Time is running for people under evacuation orders to leave their homes before Hurricane Milton slams into Florida's Gulf Coast. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place across about a dozen Florida counties.
The storm track for the Category 4 hurricane moved south early Wednesday morning, taking aim at the Sarasota area, which is still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Helene.
"We've worked really, very hard to get as much of the debris from Helene off the sides of the road before this hurricane hits, but we couldn't get everything, so that leaves those items left to be blown around, left has projectiles," said Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert.
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Melissa Dever left her home in St. Petersburg and drove to Miami. She said the drive, which is normally about four hours, took her more than six hours.
One of the major problems she ran into was finding a gas station that still had fuel.
"You go to one, there's no gas. You got another one, there's no gas," she said. "And then one gas station you might find has a line that's just massive, wraps around the entire place."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledged on Wednesday that some gas stations have run out of gas, but he noted that the state is working to get fuel to those locations. DeSantis said members of Florida Highway Patrol are escorting tankers to gas stations so they can refill the supplies as quickly as possible.
As the state tries to assist people in preparing for the storm, it's also getting ready to deal with the aftermath. DeSantis said 6,000 Florida National Guard members and 3,000 members from other states are being mobilized.
“This is the largest Florida National Guard search and rescue mobilization in the entire history of the state of Florida,” he said.
